Railway time-signal



(No Model.)

M. N. JONES. RAILWAY TIME SIGNAL.

No. 454,478. Patented June 23, 1891.

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NITED STATES PATEN'I OFFICE.

MATHIAS N. JONES, OF ESCANABA, MICHIGAN.

RAILWAY TIME-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 454,478, dated June 23,1891.

Application filed March 2, 1891. Serial No. 383,340. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, MATHIAS N. JONES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Escanaba, Delta county, Michigan, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Railway Time-Signals, of which the followingis a specification.

The object of my invention is to make mechanism for the operation of thesemaphores used for signaling purposes on railways that may be set totime the descent of the signaling-arm, so that it will occupy as manyminutes in descending as may be desired and which will require noattention after it is once set; and my invention consists in thefeatures and details of construction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of a semaphore providedwith my improvements. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the semaphoremechanism by which the descent of the signaling-arm is regulated, andFig. 3 is a plan view of the same.

In making my improved semaphore mechanism I make a shaft A, on which thesignaling-armA is intended to be mounted. This shaft is supported insuitable framework similar to that in which clock mechanism is supported(shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3) and is provided with a gearwheel B.Mounted on the shaft A is a ratchet-wheel O, which is so connected tothe shaft as to rotate with it. The gear-wheel B, however, is mountedloosely 011 the shaft,but carries a dogb, which engages with theratchet-teeth of the ratchetwheel 0, so that as the shaft andratchetwheel move in one direction they rotate the gear-wheel with them,but do not rotate it as they are moved in the other direction. Thegear-wheel B meshes with a pinion D, mounted on a shaft cl, so that asit rotates it rotates the shaft (Z. A gear-wheel E is also mounted onthis shaft, so as to be rotated with it. This gear-wheel intermesheswith a pinion F, mounted on a shaft f, which also carries a gear-wheelG. This gear-wheel intermeshes with a pinion II on a shaft 7L, whichcarries an escapement-wheel I. An escapement J is arrangedovertheescapement-wheelIandcarries two arms K 7c. The arms K 7.: carryweights L that may be adjusted back and forth on the arms, so as toregulate the speed with which the escapement J will rock. This of coursewill regulate the speed of movement of all of the parts, so that theycan be made to operate rapidly or slowly by moving the weights L in orout on the arms.

The signaling-arm, as above said, is mounted on the shaft A and a rod M,connecting with the signaling-arm, passes down to the ground and ispivotally connected with the lever N, which stands in proper position tohave its outer end borne down by the passing of a car-wheel to throw thesignaling-arm into its up position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.Other means, however, for moving the signaling-arm up by the passing ofa train may be employed, if desired. The signaling-arm is so mounted 011the shaft A that its outer end is sufiiciently heavy to cause the shaftA to rotate as it moves to its down posit-ion. hen the signaling-arm isthrown to its up position by the passage of a train, it turns the shaftA back with it; but the weight of its outer end immediately begins toturn the shaft A forward again and sets the train of gear mechanism inoperation. The time that it will require for the signaling-arm to moveto its down position again, after the passage of a train, depends uponthe rapidity with which the mechanism above described moves inoperation, and this depends upon the regulation of the escapement bymoving the weights L in or out on the arms.

If it be desired that the signaling-arm shall not reach its downposition until, say, fifteen minutes after the passage of a train, theweights L will be adjusted to that position which will cause themechanism to operate slowly enough to require that length of time tomove the signaling-arm from its up to its down position. If it bedesired that the signaling-arm shall reach its down position in tenminutes or in five minutes after the passage of a train, the weightswill be moved to that point where it will permit the mechanism tooperate with sufficient rapidity to enable the arm to move down in suchtime. Atter the mechanism is once adjusted it requires no furtherattention or regulation. It never needs to be wound up. There are nosprings about it, except that to hold the dog I) in place. It is set inoperation by the weight of the outer end of the signaling-arm, and it isregulated in the rapidity of its movements by the escapement-carryingweights adjustable in or out. When a train approaches the semaphore andthe engineer sees that the signaling'arm is down, he is informed thatthe last train passing the semaphore ahead of him must have passed atleast fifteen minutes, or ten minutes, or five minutes before him, or atsuch time as the semaphore mechanism is adjusted to operate.

In order that it may be known at night that the signaling-arm is up orbut partially down and thus inform an approaching engineer that a trainhas passed the semaphore a little ahead of him, I arrange colored lights0 on a rod 0', which carries a pinion P at its bottom, whose teethintermesh with a beveled pinion P on the shaft h. As this shaft rotatesit causes the pinion P and the rod Oto also rofate, and thus displaysrevolving colored lights to the approaching engineer. WVhen he seesthese, he will be informed that a train has passed the semaphore aheadof him and that the signaling-arm has not yet reached its down position.When it does reach its down position, the lights will cease to revolveand the engineer will know that the track is clear ahead of him. Ofcourse it willbe understood that stops are provided to limit theup-anddown movements of the signaling-arm, so that it cannot be throwntoo high nor fall too low. In order also that the engineer of a passingtrain may see at a glance, when the signalarm is not fully down, howmany minutes have elapsed since the passage of a train, I arrange aquadrant Q, which is intended to be provided with figures or other marksindicating the minutes that the signal-arm has required to reach theparticular mark opposite which it may happen to be after beginning itsdownward movement. If the time required for the signaling-arm to descendbe fifteen minutes, and the engineer of a succeeding train should seethat the signaling-arm is opposite the figure 8, for instance, he'willinstantly know that thepreceding train passed the semaphore eightminutes before.

What I regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In semaphore mechanism, the combination of a signaling-arm mounted ona shaft rotatable by the weight of the signaling-arm when in its upposition, atrain of gear-wheels rotatable by the rotation of the shafton which the signaling-arm is mounted, and an escapement for regulatingthe speed of rotation of the gear-wheels, substantially as described.

2. In semaphore mechanism, the combination of a signaling-arm mounted ona shaft rotatable by the weight of the signaling-arm when in its upposition, atrain of gear-wheels rotatable by the rotation of the shafton which the signaling-armis mountedduring the down- Ward movement onlyof the signaling-arm,

and an escapement for regulating the speed of rotation of thegear-wheels, substantially as described.

3. In semaphore mechanism, the combination of a signaling-arm mounted ona shaft rotatable by the weight of the signaling-arm when in its upposition, a train of gear-wheels rotatable by the rotation of the shafton which the signaling-arm is mounted, an escapement for regulating thespeed of rotation of the gear-wheels, and a pivoted lever depressed bythe passage of a train for moving the signaling-arm in its up position,substantially as described.

4:- In semaphore mechanism, the combination of a signaling-arm mountedon a shaft rotatable by the weight of the signaling-arm when in its upposition,atrain of gear-wheels rotatable by the rotation of the shaft onwhich the signaling-arm is mounted, an escapement for regulating thespeed of rotation of the gear-wheels, and a revolving light mounted on arod rotatable by the rotation of a shaft on which one of the train ofgear-wheels is mounted, substantially as described.

5. In semaphore mechanism, the combination of a signaling-arm mounted ona shaft rotatable by the weight of the signaling-arm when in its upposition, a train of gear-wheels rotatable by the rotation of the shafton which the signaling-arm is mounted, an escapement for regulating thespeed of rotation of the gear-wheels, and a register visible to anappreaching engineer indicating from the position of the signaling-armthe number of minutes which have elapsed since the passage of a train,substantially as described.

MATI-IIAS N. JONES.

\Vitnesses:

THOMAS A. BANNING, SAMUEL E. HIBBEN.

